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Hundreds of students and civil society activists gather in Karachi to celebrate ‘Nakba Day’
KARACHI: Hundreds of Pakistani students and civil society activists gathered in the southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday to mark 76 years of Palestinians being displaced from their homeland, calling for an end to “genocide” in Gaza as Israel escalates military tensions in the Middle Orient. East.
Palestinians call May 15 the “Nakba,” Arabic for “catastrophe,” when in 1948 some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed the founding of Israel.
Protests were held in different parts of the world on Wednesday in the context of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, where the Israeli army has killed at least 35,173 people and injured 79,061 others since October 7, 2023.
Nearly a dozen civil and women’s rights organizations took part in the protest rally that started from Do Talwar roundabout in Karachi to Teen Talwar, another major landmark of the city.
“Civil society in Karachi is celebrating Nakba Day today and the aim is to identify that the Palestinians are the real residents or the real people who can claim the land that Israel claims at this time,” Ahmed Shabbar. , one of the organizers told Arab News.
He called on students from other parts of the country to join the protest campaign for Gaza.
“There are multiple layers to this campaign and we invite civil societies from Lahore, Islamabad and Quetta and also students from all over Pakistan to join because this is just the first event,” Shabbar said. He promised that more protests will be held in the coming days.
Shabbar said the protesters’ main demand was for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and for Israel to be held accountable for its actions.
He said Pakistan’s civil society demands also include that Pakistan join South Africa in the International Court of Justice to hold Israel and its supporters accountable for its crimes in Gaza.
Shabbar said the protesters were also seeking an apology from the German ambassador to Pakistan, who had shouted at a Pakistani student for interrupting him during his speech at a conference last month. The pro-Palestinian supporter had asked the ambassador for Germany’s support for Israel’s controversial actions in Gaza.
He said civil societies are also calling for a boycott of Israeli products or those brands that support Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Mehnaz Rehman, leader of the Aurat Foundation rights movement, said demonstrators had gathered to protest Israel’s atrocities, particularly against women and children.
“They are killing children,” Rehman told Arab News. “They [people] should come forward and protest against Israel and call for a ceasefire. We call for a ceasefire immediately,” she said, praising American students for raising their voices in favor of Palestine.
Naureen Fatima, a protester, said the Palestinians were driven from their lands more than seven decades ago. She lamented that history was repeating itself.
“This is happening once again,” Fatima told Arab News. You know? And we see it happening against the backdrop of our complete genocide. This will happen in 2024.”
He criticized the international community for remaining silent on the Israeli massacres in Gaza.
“Has humanity regressed? We think we have completely regressed,” she lamented.
“What’s the point of seeing children being killed and dying? And there is no accountability, and this genocide continues.
“We are here to protest this. We are here because we don’t want this to happen.”
Separately, hundreds of students and teachers rallied at the University of Karachi to protest Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and support American students protesting across Europe and the United States.